Ever wish you could just escape reality for a bit and be transported to Bora Bora? I can tell you that it’s worth the journey—even if a mental journey is all you can embark on at the moment.
In the center of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising in two peaks, Mount Otemanu (at 2,385 feet) and the somewhat shorter Mount Pahia. The island is surrounded by a lagoon of azure water and a barrier reef. Scattered throughout are motus—Polynesian reef islets with vegetation. (Photo above courtesy of Makemake at the German-language Wikipedia.) Our last blog posting was about the Four Seasons Bora Bora, which is located on its own motu in the lagoon.
One of the very special excursions I did while on the Paul Gauguin cruise of French Polynesia was a catamaran sailing in Bora Bora. To really capture the incredible beauty of this area was beyond my camera's and my ability, but I hope this will give you the feeling of sailing in this stunning destination.
There’s also a short video at the end, of a beautiful eagle ray gliding gracefully just under the surface of the water.
So just sit back, enjoy, and for a few minutes, pretend that you’re in Bora Bora!
Just a "boring picture of water." Beautiful, clear, azure water in Bora Bora.
Sadly, stingray species are becoming progressively vulnerable to extinction, particularly due to unregulated fishing in some areas of the world. A couple of things I didn’t yet know while videoing this were:
(1) These rays have multiple venomous, barbed stingers near the base of their tail, intended only for defense (which fact didn’t help “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin in his freak encounter with a ray that felt threatened).
(2) They can “fly” out of the water, and on at least two occasions have been known to jump into boats, resulting in the sudden death of one woman in Florida. She was not stung but was killed by blunt force to the head of an animal weighing 75 pounds—perhaps a juvenile, since they can grow to 500 pounds, with a wingspan of 10 feet and a length (including tail) of 17 feet!
I was glad not to know those things because it was a real treat to watch this beautiful creature!
Hope you enjoyed it too. Happy sailing!
ScheckTrek Travel...making memories
Copyright ©2017 ScheckTrek.com. All sharing of our photos and text subject to "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives" Creative Commons License. CST #2109492-40